HP accepting preorders on overpriced Mini-Note batteries

Want a spare battery for your HP Mini-Note? You’d better have $200 or so to spare, because HP is charging $191 for a spare/replacement 6-cell 55Wh battery. Yep, a single battery will cost you almost 2/5ths the price of the cheapest Mini-Note laptop.

But wait, there’s more. The 3-cell 28Wh battery actually costs more, with ridiculous price tag of $207.10. Now, its not unusual for computer makers to charge what seem like unreasonable rates for spare batteries. But it seems especially obnoxious when you’re talking about batteries for computers that sell for as little as $499.

There was a fire in a major battery manufacturing plant earlier this year which has affected the global supply of laptop batteries. But it’s not clear whether it’s also affecting the prices for these batteries, especially since HP is accepting orders but doesn’t actually have the batteries in stock yet. In other words, I see no evidence that HP will lower the prices for spare batteries later.

The moral of this story: If you want the higher capacity 6-cell battery, spring for a more expensive computer configuration up front, because adding a battery down the road is just going to make your wallet cry. Well, until cheaper knockoff batteries start showing up eBay anyway.

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